Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez has been named the National League Player Of The Week:
↵↵↵... [T]he third baseman has caught the attention of the baseball world over the past week with monster numbers at the plate. His numbers earned him the first Player of the Week Award of his young career.
↵Alvarez hit .417 over the week, while tallying a Major League-leading 13 RBIs. The Vanderbilt University product has reached base in 14 straight contests entering play on Monday.
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Alvarez also has two homers this week. Alvarez has been very streak-prone in his rookie season - he struggled mightily after being recalled in June before going bonkers in July, hitting four homers in two games. He then went into hibernation for about six weeks beginning in late July before reemerging in the past couple of weeks. Alvarez plainly has game-changing ability, and hopefully he'll display it a little more consistently as he matures. If he does, this player of the week award will be only the first of many in his career.